


The Physics Of Family

by Sheneya



Series: Who's Adopting Barry Allen? [3]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Gen Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-16 23:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7288150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheneya/pseuds/Sheneya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adopter number 2</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Physics Of Family

**Author's Note:**

> I am using TV standards for adoption, not real life standards.
> 
> All oneshots are adoptable, as long as you leave a note in the comments below saying you wish to expand the story.
> 
> Now Beta Read by farflungstars.

Barry looked up as the familiar shadow of the older woman who'd sometimes come to watch the children crossed over him. She always seemed kind, but he found that he could detect a small amount of sorrow or regret in her eyes as she smiled and waved at both him and the other children in the home before continuing on her way. At first, Barry thought that Joe might be able to tell him why she was a little sad all the time, but, in the end, Joe had just told him that, "People can regret many different things, not all of them are to be understood by the people around them." Barry decided to leave it at that.

This time, however, she wasn't just looking at them. Barry watched as she made her way through the garden for the first time and rang the doorbell. Suddenly, the sound of a familiar car pulling up made him turn to face the road again. Bridget was one of the social workers that regularly brought potential adopters to the home he currently living in, she was solid and friendly, but she had learned how to keep herself distant from the children she worked with. As he craned his neck to see who the other passenger in her car might be, the sound of the driver-side door opening had him looking back at where Bridget was getting out. Looking up she brightly waved at the woman who had just rung the doorbell, before crouching down to look through her window at her passenger.

Barry couldn't make out exactly what she was saying, but it seemed like a politely worded version of, "We're here, stop reading and get your butt out of the car."

The man that stepped out, seemed to be both distinguished and intelligent yet slightly vague at the same time. Barry supposed that was in part due to the fact that he had been rather abruptly pulled from the book he was reading. Brushing himself down, the man walked up the path, it was obvious from the looks they were exchanging that he and the woman were married and in love, but something about it seemed rocky. However, the fact that Bridget had brought them into the home, meant that both their background checks had been completed and came up clean, even if they were having a few problems.

As Barry watched them waiting for the house staff to open the door, the woman and the man began talking, as the chatted, the woman pointed out some of the other children playing in the yard, the man nodded disinterestedly until she pointed out Barry, for a few seconds, it seemed as though his eyes would pass over the young boy as it had his fellow foster children, but they suddenly alighted on the book Barry had been reading. It was a scientific textbook that Barry had found amongst a pile of random books at a garage sale during an outing with Joe and Iris, apparently their son had been moving out of town and they were selling his old college things, Joe being a police officer had meant that he was given a bit of leeway by the workers at the home. Most of the other children considered it boring and hard to read, so aside from a few attempts from a bully at school, Barry, who found it fascinating, had been left to read it in peace.

The odd little moment was interrupted as the loud squeak of the front door opening heralded the arrival of the house representative. There was a few muffled exchanges as the representative said her apologies for taking a while to answer the door before ushering them all inside.

Barry watched the door for a few more seconds, before shrugging and turning back to his book, it was far more interesting than sitting down and waiting for whatever news would come.

He had finished the chapter he'd been reading, moved so he was under sunlight again, and was about half-way through the next chapter when a sudden shadow blocked out his light. Looking up, he noticed the woman and her husband standing next to him, tilting his body to the side so he could look over at the house, he was reassured by the wave of confirmation given to him by Bridget. Not wanting to be rude, he put the bookmark from his pocket between the pages and focused his attention on the people in front of him. "Yes Sir... Ma'am?"

Whatever the woman had been about to say was interrupted by the man, who seemed almost surprised as he asked. "Are you actually reading that book kid?"

Barry thought he should feel affronted for a few seconds, but after that gut reaction, it was easy to tell the man was in fact genuinely interested, rather than being condescending.

Happily, and before he fully realized it, Barry began rattling of all the things he found interesting about the book, as he paused for breath, the man interjected that one of the theories Barry was talking had about recently been proven possible, suddenly they were chatting back and forth. Barry found it enjoyable, but after a while, the man began talking about ideas that he was having trouble understanding. At this point, the gentle movement of the man’s wife jabbing her elbow into her husband’s side, woke Barry to the fact that they'd spent nearly twenty minutes practically ignoring her, which made him feel bad. “Sorry ma'am, I got kind of overexcited."

The woman smiled at his sheepish look. "That's alright Mister Allen, believe it or not, this dear man has gotten me quite used to waiting for the excitement of learning new knowledge to calm down."

At that sentence, The man looked away a little sheepishly himself. "Sorry, Clarissa."

She just patted his arm. "That's ok dear."

However, even though she seemed perfectly happy about it, Barry could see a small amount of reluctant disappointment in her eyes. Wanting to alleviate it a bit, he turned his attention to her. "What kind of things do you like Ma'am?"

After a few minutes, they found themselves animatedly discussing their favourite true crime stories, which eventually lead to Barry talking a little about his mother. To his surprise, Clarissa's reaction, while empathetic, wasn't overly pitying. He still wasn't quite willing to mention seeing the man in yellow though, as much as he found himself liking these two people, he'd been told he was imagining things for so long, he didn't feel like hearing it again.

Suddenly, his eyes widened, before his face turned red and slightly sheepish as he looked towards where her husband had been standing, ignored for almost half an hour. "Sorry Sir."

However, instead of looking upset, the man seemed oddly thoughtful as he looked at his wife, before opening his mouth to talk to Barry. "My wife and I never planned on having any children Barry, so I was surprised when she mentioned how often she'd been checking out this place. Recently, when I haven't been too involved in my work, we've ended up discussing what it may have been like if we'd decided to have children, and whether or not we had been missing out by not having them."

Barry looked at him quizzically, but he thought he understood where the man was coming from. "Barry, my name is Doctor Martin Stein, and my wife and I were wondering if you'd like to be adopted by us... I can't promise we'll be perfect, but we will both try very hard to do our best."

Barry was silent as he considered what Doctor Stein was saying, before he finally gave his answer. "I'd like that Doctor Stein."


End file.
